About me

Welcome to Pater Gratia Oriental Art.

When I was a little boy, my father took me along on Saturday afternoons to visit local antiques dealers

and auction houses to study and discuss Chinese and Japanese ceramic objects.  

Through these visits I came into contact with special and unique people and learned by listening 

and observing how they discussed their objects with passion and affection. They taught me what to

look at when determining an object's age, state or origin.

The people I was surrounded by triggered my curiosity and interest in wanting to learn more about

my country's trade history with China and Japan. Over the years I steadily learned more about oriental

ceramics by reading about the subject, visiting museums and studying their collections.

In 1982, Mr. Rieks Kessels (a local antiques dealer) gave me an 18th century Chinese family rose plate.

He used this plate in his antiques store to cut and serve cake to his customers while drinking tea and

discussing oriental ceramics. This gift laid the foundation for creating my own Chinese and Japanese

ceramics collection.

In that same year, I had two major desires - ceramics on the one hand, a 50 cc motorbike on the other. Guess what I decided for: I bought my first piece of oriental ceramics, a Japanse Imari teapot. 

During the following 27 years I built up a quite exquisite collection and I still continue to collect today.

At the beginning of 2010 I decided that I wanted to start my own business buying and selling Chinese and Japanese ceramics, and to combine my knowledge and passion that way.

Please feel free to browse through the various pages and objects of this website and have a look if there

is anything you'd like.

If you wish to get more information about a particular object or want to inquire about the shipping costs,

or if you have any further questions, please contact me by e-mail to: info@patergratiaorientalart.com.

Thank you for reading this page and visiting my website.

Kind regards,

Hans van Baarsen